


Lie to Me

by esm3rald



Category: Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries (TV), crossover - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Damon Salvatore replaces Ezra Fitz, F/F, F/M, Mystery, NO EZRA FITZ in the story, Romance, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-10 02:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2008161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esm3rald/pseuds/esm3rald
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Klaus doesn't arrive in time to save Damon in the season4 finale, so Elena is forced to feed him the cure even if he doesn't want it. Damon is unable to cope with being human in a supernatural town and he's now destined to grow old while Elena won't, thing that prevents them from being together. For all these reasons, feeling that he has nothing that really binds him to the town anymore, he leaves Mystic Falls and everyone else behind. After traveling around the States for about one year without a destination in mind, he ends up in a little town in Pennsylvania - Rosewood -. He decides to stay and starts to attend Hollis College, trying to build a new life for himself. After three years he graduates from Hollis and he's ready to start his first teaching job. A day before school starts - on Labor's Day -, he meets a beautiful, dark-haired girl at a bar and, without meaning to, he ends up entangled in the mystery that surrounds her and her friends due to the disappearance of one Alison DiLaurentis and the strange messages they keep receiving from someone who only signs themselves as -A. PLL UNIVERSE. Starts from the Pilot of PLL and follows the seasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, I had this absolutely crazy idea while watching Damon/Aria videos on YouTube and I absolutely had to write it. I think it's pretty cool but I'll let you decide if you think the same or not. I warned you that I have nothing planned out, I just know that the story will follow the PLL episodes but with Damon's addition to the story, who knows what will happen.
> 
> Pretty Little Liars/Vampire Diaries Cross-Over. TurnedHuman!Damon. Pretty Little Liars Universe.
> 
> After 'Vampire Diaries' Season4 and starting from season1 of 'Pretty Little Liars'. Teacher/Student Relationship guys, if you don't like it, don't read it!
> 
> Ezra is basically replaced by Damon in this story. So NO EZRA, NO EZRIA.
> 
> BTW I'm an Ezra/Aria and Damon/Elena fan, I'm not writing this because I can't stand Aria with Ezra or Damon with Elena, nothing of the sort. I just think it will be cool to have Damon in the 'Pretty Little Liars' Universe with -A and all the other stuff. Since, like I said, I actually like Ezra, he won't be in the story because otherwise I would be forced to choose between Damon and Ezra with Aria and well...Ezra would win because EZRIAAAAA! Anyway I hope you like it!
> 
> Damon was 22 when he was turned in my story, so he's still technically 22 when he becomes human. When Damon and Aria meet he's 26 years old. 'Vampire Diaries' from Season1 to Season4 is set from 2004 to 2006. When Damon and Aria meet we're in 2010, four years later.
> 
> Damon will replace Ezra like I said, but he doesn't know Alison, he only knows what happened to her from the newspapers, nothing more. He doesn't know who Aria is or the other girls. He isn't trying to write a book about Alison, he's not 'Board Shorts'.
> 
> He will realize almost from the start that there's something going on with Aria and her friends - after all Damon is freakishly perceptive -, something Aria doesn't want to talk about, something she's afraid of. So, he will try to find out what it is and he will become involved in the whole affair, becoming an active part in the 'investigations' so to say.
> 
> P.S. Damon won't start to grow old quickly like Katherine did in the TV Show. The cure has simply turned him into a normal human of 22 years of age - with some (very)little perks left from being a vampire for 150 years -. From that age he will grow old normally.
> 
> Oh, another thing. Damon may appear OOC in later chapters sometimes but it's because he's how I imagine him to be as a human. He will not go back to be like he was in 1864 of course but since he's now a human, he will certainly be different than how he was as a vampire. Remember that when Aria meets him, he will have made peace with his life as it is now - he will be pretty content with it actually -, so he will be less 'self-destructive' in his behavior as compared with how he is in the TV Show. Especially because he doesn't need to fight with his 'murderous instincts' every hour of every day like he needed to when he was a vampire. And he will not be a 'man-whore' either like he usually ends up being when he sports a broken heart. Still, he will be the same sarcastic, snarky Damon that we all know and love.
> 
> Disclaimer: I'll say this only once. I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' or 'Pretty Little Liars', nor any of their characters. I'm not gaining money by writing this story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of this prologue is taken directly from the flashback in the pilot of PLL, you know what I'm talking about.

 

**LIE TO ME**

_"If you don't love me - lie to me_   
_'Cause baby you're the one thing I believe_   
_Let it all fall down around us, if that's what's meant to be_   
_Right now if you don't love me baby - lie to me"_

**_(Lie to Me - Bon Jovi)_ **

* * *

 

**Prologue**

****

_"Sometimes I hate, the life I made_   
_Everything's wrong every time._   
_Pushing on, I can't escape_   
_Everything that comes my way_   
_Is haunting me, taking its sweet time."_

**_(Narcissistic Cannibal - Korn)_ **

_Mystic Falls(VA), Salvatore Boarding House - 2006_

Damon looked at the fireplace in front of him with a brooding look that better suited his brother, sipping from a glass of bourbon. He didn't exactly know how to react to what had happened. Part of him was so angry at Elena for what she had done, even if he understood why she had done it. He knew he would have done the same in her situation, after all he would do anything to save her life, even go against her wishes, he had already done it in the past. And Elena had done exactly that. Because if there was something he had learned since Elena had become a vampire was that she was much more similar to him that even she wanted to admit. But this? How was he supposed to cope with this? Becoming human was a fate worse than death for him.

"Damon..." Elena's hesitant voice came from his right. He turned around to look at her but he didn't speak. "I'm sure it won't be so bad. You will just need time to get used to it..." Not even her seemed convinced of what she was saying.

"Hum, even assuming that I'll get used to be human, that I'll end up liking it." He answered with a snort. "Then what? I'll spend a handful of years with you and then I'll lose you when I'll be too old and sick and miserable and you will still be you." He stopped for a second, trying to calm his breath, then he continued, voice raising with every word out of his mouth. "If you think, for one minute, that I can live in a town full of supernatural beings, as a weak and fragile human, and watching you every day, staying the same as you are now while I become older and older, then you don't know me at all."

"Then what was I supposed to do? Let you die?" Elena screamed back at him, appearing angry.

"Yes, that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted that cure for you. For you to have everything that you ever wanted. I never wanted to be human. I was happy as a vampire and I would have been happy  _dying_  as a vampire. I would rather have died than becoming human like you forced me to become. I'd rather die right now than spend my last final years remembering how good I had it and how happy I was Elena, because that's who I am and I'm not going to change and I will certainly not apologize for it."

"Okay, fine. I'm not going to apologize either for having saved your life, because I would have never let you die, because that's who I am and because I love you!" Elena ended up shouting the last part but Damon couldn't bring himself to look at her. He closed his eyes in pain, because until a few hours ago he would have given everything to hear Elena say those words to him but now, it was only a reminder of what he couldn't have. He shook his head before turning to look at her. "And I love you, you know that. But it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change the situation I'm in..."

Elena looked at him, her face reflecting her fear clearly. "What are you saying?"

"I'm leaving Mystic Falls tomorrow." He said with finality in his voice. There was no room for doubt in his mind, he had already decided and not even Elena could have changed his mind.

"No, Damon..." She came closer to him and took his free hand in hers. "Please, you can't leave. We will find a solution, we always do."

Damon shook his head at her. "There's no solution this time. No way to fix this. I need to leave, build a life of my own, without you or Stefan or anyone else from my past. If I have to learn how to cope with being human, I'll do it alone. Without you in it. I'm sorry Elena, but it's over. For good this time. I always thought we were never meant to be together, I guess this just confirms it." He turned his face away, not having the courage to see her eyes full of tears or the heartbreak in her face that reflected his. He almost imagined he could feel his heart breaking, perceive the cracks in it like it was a physical thing. Believing Katherine was dead or finding out that she wasn't in the tomb was nothing compared to this. The only time he had come close to feel pain such as what he was feeling in that moment was when he had believed Elena had died. Of course then he had actually found out that Elena was in transition and that he hadn't lost her forever after all but from this, there was no going back. In a way what he was feeling was even worse that what he had felt then because the idea of Elena living her life without him, of her being happy without him, was even worse than him living without her. Of course he knew that those thoughts were selfish but he had never denied the fact that he was, in fact, a selfish being. He wasn't the 'bad brother' for nothing after all, was he? Becoming human hadn't changed that, nor it had changed in the slightest what he felt towards Elena.

He didn't know what he would do from now on, where he would go from there. The only thing he was certain of was that he couldn't leave Mystic Falls fast enough. There was nothing for him there now, not anymore. He felt like he had survived just to lose everything he had in the process. He had a real life in front of him for the first time in 150 years and the only thing he wanted was to return to be dead.

* * *

_"Got a secret_   
_Can you keep it?_   
_Swear this one you'll save_   
_Better lock it in your pocket_   
_Taking this one to the grave_   
_If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_   
_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

**_(Secret - The Pierces)_ **

_Rosewood(PA), Hastings' Barn - 2009_

It was Labor Day and four pretty girls of about fifteen were celebrating the last day of freedom before the end of the summer and the beginning of the new school year while a storm was raging outside. They were having fun, drinking and laughing while listening to the music blazing from the stereo. One of them was tall, an athletic physic with dark eyes and dark hair pulled back in a braid, Asian features and a sweet and shy expression on her face. Another was tall and thin, with long brown hair and brown eyes, with a face that somehow made her appear older than what she actually was, personality reflected by the clothes she wore, that somehow gave her a sophisticated appearance: a plaid pullover that covers a white t-shirt paired with blue jeans. The third one was petite, with long, dark chocolate hair, an heart shaped face and hazel eyes. Her clothes were in a rocker style that seemed to suit perfectly the pink stripes in her hair. The last one was blonde - her hair in a ponytail - with blue eyes and a self-conscious expression on her face probably due to the few pounds she had in excess, her body covered by large and comfortable clothes.

Suddenly the music stopped and the lights got turned off. The four girls looked at each other, confused and a little scared.

"Whoa, what happened?" The Asian girl asked.

"It must be the storm." The girl with the plaid sweater answered while using a lighter to light a few candles. The girl with the pink stripes turned a flashlight on to see a little better the dark space around her. "Something's out there." She whispered when they heard a strange creaking noise coming from outside. The four of them got up from the folding chairs they were sitting on a moment before. They walked slowly towards the door of the barn, staying close to each other. "Guys." The blonde girl whispered with a tone of fear on her voice. They approached the door slowly when they suddenly heard a glass shattering and they screamed.

A moment later a slender girl came into sight, a mischievous smile on her face, wearing a new yellow top. She had blue eyes and blonde hair that curled at the ends. She was the obvious leader of their little group. The four girls screamed and the girl that had just arrived smiled at them. "Gotcha" She said with a smug tone, satisfied that she was able to scare them.

The girl with the plaid sweater said "That's so not funny, Alison!" She laughed but she didn't seem particularly happy with her friend.

The blonde girl with the yellow top didn't seem to notice "I thought it was hilarious, girls".

They laughed together anyway, following their leader's example. They settled down on sofas and went back to what they were doing, drinking and having fun.

"Ali, did you download the new Beyoncé?" The chubby girl asked the other blonde girl.

Alison smiled at her "Not yet"

The Asian girl looked at Alison with obvious admiration on her face "I'm loving her new video" She said, almost seeking her approval.

Alison smirked back at her "Maybe a little too much, Em" She said with a hidden meaning that it was fortunately understood only by Emily. Emily stopped smiling and looked at her knees for a few seconds in embarrassment.

Alison passed the glass she was holding to the girl next to her, the one with the pink stripes in her hair.

"Your turn. Go on." She said, almost daring her to drink. The girl looked a little uncertain for a few seconds before taking a long sip of the drink inside.

"Careful, Aria" The girl with the plaid sweater said with a laugh to the other girl "Take too much, and you'll tell us all your secrets" The other girls laughed at that.

"Friends share secrets. That's what keeps us close." Alison interjected with a smile towards Aria "Drink up"

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Aria awoke in the barn a little time later, surprised that she had fallen asleep in the first place. She looked around her and noticed only Emily and Hanna there. She shook Emily's shoulder to wake her, thing that Emily did a few seconds later. The two of them woke Hanna up, next.

"Where are Ali and Spencer?" Hanna asked, still groggy from sleep.

Aria shook her head at her question "We don't know"

Aria got up first and went to the door, Emily and Hanna following behind. Spencer appearead a few seconds later.

"Ali?" Aria asked Spencer, not seeing Alison with her.

Spencer shook her "She's gone"

Aria looked at her confused and a little worried "What do you mean she's gone?"

Spencer's upset expression was evident for everyone to see. "I've looked everywhere for her. I think I heard her scream."

The four girls looked at each other, not having any idea what to say or do. Their friend was gone.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, Chapter 1. This chapter follows the events from the Pilot from Aria and Damon's POV. The entire story will be in Aria and Damon's POV, I feel that rewriting the scenes in Spencer, Emily and Hanna's POV will be a waste of time since they will be the same as in the TV Show.
> 
> You'll recognize phrases taken directly from the first episode. I hope you like it. And please tell me if you find Damon too OOC. I don't want him to become a completely different person, or too similar to Ezra. I love him because he's Damon, I don't want to change him.

****

**Chapter 1**

_"Happiness feels a lot like sorrow  
Let it be, you can't make it come or go(...)_

_Happiness was never mine to hold(...)_

_Happiness damn near destroys you_   
_Breaks your faith to pieces on the floor_   
_So you tell yourself, that's enough for now_   
_Happiness has a violent roar"_

_**(Happiness - The Fray)** _

_Rosewood(PA), Montgomery Residence - 2010_

Aria looked at herself in the mirror, swinging from left to right to check that the dress she was wearing fitted her well. It was a purple paisley dress that she absolutely loved and that she had bought in Island just a few months ago.

A moment later she stopped moving, staring at her reflection and thinking that Ali would have loved this dress.

Her morose thoughts were interrupted by her mother "Aria, are you okay?"

Aria turned around to look at her and sighed. "It's weird to be home."

Ella smiled at her in understanding. "We were gone a year. When you're 16, that's a long time."

Aria nodded while going to sit on one of the boxes that were still scattered around the room. They hadn't finished unpacking yet, having returned from Island just a few hours ago.

"I think of her every day" She revealed with a sad frown.

"Why don't you call your friends? They don't know we're back from dad's sabbatical." Ella suggested but Aria wasn't really listening, lost in her thoughts.

"On the news, they're calling it 'The anniversary of Alison's disappearance'. Like it's a party or something." She commented aloud, talking more to herself than anything else.

"Why don't you give them a call?" Her mother asked again. "You five were inseparable, and those feelings don't just go away." Aria looked at her mother contemplatively but she didn't answer.

The moment was interrupted by her little brother Mike running up the corridor. "I need a ride to lacrosse!" He shouted to no one in particular. Aria smiled, amused. "I'll take him."

Mother and daughter descended the stairs and the ground floor like her room was filled with packed boxes. Mike searched through them for his lacrosse equipment but he didn't seem to be having much luck.

"Got lacrosse today?" Her father asked Mike with an indulgent smile.

Mike answered with a slight irritated sigh. "It's first tryouts, and all my stuff's in about a hundred boxes."

"A hundred?" Ella asked amused.

Mike rolled his eyes at her. "You know what I mean."

"Come on, let's go look in the garage." She said to him and together they left the room.

Aria realized with a little dread that she was alone with her father. She felt uncomfortable with him now that they were back home.

"Listen, I know coming back here brings up a lot of memories. You okay?" Byron asked concerned but Aria only heard the guilt in his words.

"Dad, I'm still keeping your secret, okay?" She said coldly.

Byron sighed at her "I mean, are you okay with Alison?" Aria shook her head and didn't answer. Ella and Mike returned from the garage into the living room and Aria started to walk towards the door without looking at her father. She got out of the house with Mike and breathed a sigh of relief.

The drive didn't last long and in about 10 minutes Aria was parking in front of Rosewood High School where Mike had the lacrosse tryouts. Mike climbed out of the car and Aria suddenly remembered that she didn't know at what time she will have to pick him up.

"Hey, what time am I picking you up?" She asked him, lowering the car window.

"Uh, six." Mike answered with a shrug. Aria smiled "Okay, I'm gonna grab some food". She decided to go to a pub near 'Hollis College' where her father worked. They made vegan food there that was mouth-watering.

* * *

_Rosewood(PA), Pub near Hollis College - 2010_

Damon sat at the bar stool with a glass of bourbon in hand, thinking that some things at least hadn't changed. He was still prone to drink, even if he did it much less often than he used to in the past.

He still couldn't believe that it had already been four years since he had become human. At first it had been absolute and complete hell. He had wondered from one city to another without destination nor purpose in mind, asking himself what the hell was he going to do with his life now. And the worst thing was the feeling of loss that followed him wherever he went. He had missed Elena and his brother so much at first that he had been tempted to call them just a few days after having left Mystic Falls.

Fortunately he had stopped himself every time he had the desire to hear from them and now, at least, he was handling their absence from his life a little better. He still missed them like crazy and he certainly hadn't stopped loving Elena just because he wasn't able to see her anymore. But he was starting to get better.

If there was a thing he appreciated about being human was the fact that his emotions weren't heightened anymore. He had always felt everything very powerfully, love especially and feeling things as a vampire had been torture. Maybe that was why he had spent so much time with his emotions turned off. Everything was easier when you couldn't feel a thing. Now that he was human though, he almost felt like he could learn to live without them, even if he wasn't naive enough to believe that the pain would simply disappear one day.

He looked around the bar with a smile, feeling almost like he was back at the Mystic Grill, Rick sitting on his left side, like nothing had changed.

Maybe that was the reason why he had chosen to come to this bar exactly this day. A day before the beginning of the school year.

If someone had told him a few years ago that he would one day decide to be a teacher, they would probably have found themselves with their throat ripped out. And yet, here he was, after three years spent in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, having just graduated from Hollis, the local college, with a degree in 'English Literature'.

Sometimes he still wondered what had made him decide to stop right in this town of all places. Maybe it had reminded him of Mystic Falls, maybe he had simply gotten tired of running. He didn't know and he didn't care because he didn't regret it. He had found a purpose here and even the will to live, really live, instead of just continue pretending that nothing had changed for him.

Of course adapting to be human after 150 years as a vampire had been nothing but easy. He was used to compel people when he wanted to obtain something - even if he still didn't find charming people to do his bidding very difficult anyway, must be his good looks -, he was used to be strong and fast and with his senses particularly developed. Everything was dulled around him, the colors didn't seem so vibrant, everything seemed foggy now.

He had also felt as weak as a kitten at first with his new human strength, even if he was just as strong as any other man, but that was the problem was it? He was used to be  _supernaturally_  strong.

There were perks to being human though, he had to admit it. Like not feeling thirsty for blood every single second of every day. He didn't have the instinct to kill anymore, so he guessed Elena would find this a positive thing.

It still hurt, thinking about her, but after all, only four years had passed. It had taken him 150 years to get over Katherine and that was only because he had realized what a manipulative bitch she really was and because he had fallen in love with Elena. And he hadn't loved Katherine as much as he had loved Elena. He didn't think that the human lifetime he had available now would be enough to get over her. Elena was his light, she represented everything that was right and pure, she had been the first person who hadn't seen a monster while looking at him, the first person who had shown him kindness in who knew how long. Someone who had trusted him when he didn't deserve to be trusted. Someone who had understood him even when his own brother couldn't. How could he move on from someone like her?

He shook his head, reminding himself to stop thinking about her. He looked around the bar once again, noticing for the first time a notice attached on the board of the bar, the face of a pretty blonde printed on the paper, the word 'STILL MISSING' written in capital letters just underneath it.

Ah, Alison DiLaurentis. Last year everybody in town had been talking about it. Now the gossip had abated a little but, of the fifteen year old girl who had disappeared exactly one year ago, there was still no trace.

If you lived in Rosewood, you must have heard about it. They were news that had put the local community into a state of shock, especially because a lot of people thought she was actually dead. That the crime was still unsolved after a year, didn't certainly come as a surprise for Damon, even with all the local police involved in the search. Before this, the only thing the police had needed to worry about were the normal complaints typical of a little town like this one. Nobody had had to face something like this before. Damon, for his part, didn't care much one way or another. Sure, he was a little sorry for the girl and the people who had been close to her, but she was wholly unconnected to him so when he had read about her in the newspaper, he had simply went about with his life like always.

Even if now, looking at her smiling face better, he had the impression of having seen her before. Did he know her from somewhere?

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the pub door being opened. He looked curiously at the petite and pretty brunette girl that had entered inside the pub in that moment before going to sit two seats next to him, on his left.

"Can I get a vegan cheeseburger, please?" The girl asked the bartender standing in front of her but from behind the bar stool. "You got it" The barman answered before leaving. Damon noticed the girl looking at the same flier he was staring at a few seconds before, and watched curiously as the expression on her face turned sad. Was she sad because of what had happened to the missing girl just because of what had happened to her, or was it because she did actually know this Alison DiLaurentis?

"What's a pretty girl like you doing all alone in a bar?" He asked her with a smirk, seemingly not able to help himself.

Hitting on a pretty girl in a bar had been his modus operandi once upon a time, using blood and sex as a way to forget his troubles at least for one night. But since he had left Mystic Falls, his interactions with women had been few and far between.

Oh, he had tried at first, trying to return to be the playboy he had once been, but the truth was that one-night-stands had never really been his thing, only leaving him cold and empty in the end. He was a romantic at heart, no matter how much he tried to deny it. After a while, he had just stopped trying, simply because he had never actually found someone that could really hold his interest for more than a few minutes. Not after Elena.

But this girl, there was something about her, something special. Maybe it was the sad, almost lost expression on her face that he had seen too many times while looking at his own reflection. He didn't know, but he wanted to talk to her. Get to know her. "Everything all right?" He continued with his typical smirk.

The girl turned towards him, surprised that he was talking to her. She widened her eyes when she got a good look at him but answered anyway, a beautiful, unaffected smile on her lips. "I'm a bit jetlagged. I just got back from Europe."

"Where in Europe?" He asked her, curiously, before raising his hands almost in surrender "If I may be so bold to ask."

The girl laughed slightly at his antics "Iceland" she answered with a smile.

"Hum. I spent some time in Reykjavik a few years ago. It's a great city. I'm Damon by the way."

"Aria" The girl introduced herself.

"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl" He said, doing what Elena used to call his 'eye-thing'. It was the first time that the thought of Elena didn't cause him pain. Talking with this girl was so easy, so natural.

"So, do you go to Hollis?" Aria asked him then.

Damon smirked. "Just graduated actually. I'm gonna start my first teaching job." The last sentence was said a little sarcastically and the girl apparently noticed because she asked "Why do you say it like that?"

"Well, I have to confess that until a few years ago, the idea of teaching a bunch of hormonal teenagers had never crossed my mind" He answered honestly.

"What changed then?" She asked him, intrigued.

"Life." He merely said with a shrug. "Sometimes you think you have it all planned out and then, something happens and you are forced to reconsider everything you thought you knew about your life in the first place."

A strange look passed through the girl's eyes before she answered "Yeah, I know the feeling." She said with an hint of sadness in her voice "Anyway, I...I think I'd like to teach." Then, hearing the song playing from the old jukebox on the corner of the bar, she exclaimed "God, I love this song". It was 'Happiness' by 'The Fray'.

Damon smirked a little, because he had chosen that song. "B26" He said and Aria smiled at him. "What's your major?" He asked her then.

Aria seemed strangely uncomfortable by the question and Damon wondered why. "Uh, well, I'm leaning toward English." It seemed more like a question but he smiled at her anyway.

"Strange coincidence. It's the same subject I'm going to teach."

"Well, and I write too" She said with a shy look at him "but... So far, it's mostly personal. Just for me." She finished with a shrug.

"A writer hum? I'm impressed" Damon said and he was. Once upon a time, before Katherine and everything else that her arrival in Mystic Falls had caused, before the war and everything, he had been a young, literature enthusiastic who wanted nothing more than to pursue his passion by becoming a writer. But of course his father hadn't allowed it. He was a Salvatore and at the time being a Salvatore was almost synonym of royalty. Giuseppe would have never allowed one of his sons to become a penniless writer. And then of course he had gone to war, he had met and fallen in love with Katherine and then he had become a vampire. Was it really surprising that in the mist of all this, he had completely forgotten about his former dream? Maybe that was the reason why he had decided to pursue a degree in English Literature of all things.

"Why?" Aria asked him, bringing him back to the present. He had almost forgotten what he had said to her but was able to remember enough of it to give her a satisfactory answer. He got up and sat on the bar stool next to her before saying, almost with a sheepish smile that was very out of character for him "Well, I tried writing but I didn't get very far. Maybe becoming a writer is not in my future after all. You're lucky though. If you're writing for yourself, It's pure passion." He hesitated a second before asking her "Maybe you'd let me read something of yours one of those days?" He didn't know what it was about this girl but for the first time in forever he had been able to stop obsessing over Elena, at least for a little while. He liked talking with her, it was almost soothing.

Aria smiled again that beautiful smile of hers and asked both shyly and enthusiastically "Yeah? You'd really want to?"

"Of course" He said with a real smile back at her. "You're beautiful, you're smart, you traveled" Then with a smug smirk he added "Great taste in music. I'd like to know more about you, Aria. If you'd like to of course"

Aria smiled almost coquettishly at him "Yeah. I'd like to know more about you too".

A few minutes later the two of them found themselves in the bathroom of the pub, making out passionately, Aria sitting on the sink because she was just too short to reach his lips without standing uncomfortably on her toes. He smiled at her between a break from a kiss and another and Aria smiled back at him. There, in that bathroom, making out like a teenager with a virtual stranger, he felt more alive that he had ever felt since actually becoming  _alive_. He wasn't thinking about the life he could have had with Elena, or the fact that he missed his brother. He wasn't thinking about anything but her. Aria. And in that single moment, he was happy.

_"Or is happiness a little more like knocking  
on your door, and you just let it in?"_

* * *

Byron parked in front of the high school and Mike immediately got off the car, apparently happy with being back. "Good luck" Byron said to him before he was completely out of of course left her alone with her father, something she had wanted to avoid. She could almost imagine the tension between them like it was a living, breathing thing. She was ready to go out of the car to escape the awkward situation. Not that she was particularly eager to rejoin the students' community of Rosewood High but at the same time, she couldn't wait to get away from his father's presence. It seemed that being back in Rosewood had brought back everything she had felt against her father and that she thought she had gotten over when they had left for Iceland. The only positive thing of being back in Rosewood seemed to be the new acquaintance she had made yesterday evening.

"Wait" Her father said, stopping her from leaving the car.

Aria sighed, not turning around. "Look, it's the first day. I don't want to be late"

"I love you, Aria. You know that, right?" Byron asked and Aria turned around to look at him.

"Yeah. I know" She answered with another sigh.

"And you know that I love your mom" He continued but at those words Aria glared at him.

"Do you?" She asked him, not believing him.

"I made a mistake, okay? And I will be sorry about it for the rest of my life. I just hope that someday you'll be able to forgive me"

Aria couldn't help but soften at those words even if she wasn't really sure about her father's sincerity. "I hope so too" She merely said back before leaving the car.

She stopped on the pavement, looking at his father's car and couldn't help thinking about the day she had found out about the affair between her father and one of his university students.

It was about one year ago, and she was walking around the town with Alison while eating an ice-cream. They had suddenly heard someone following them behind by running, and screaming their names.

"Aria! Hey, guys! Alison!" It was Mona Vanderwaal, a not-at-all popular girl that was often targeted by Alison and that - despite this - couldn't lose an occasion to try to catch Alison's attention and her friendship consequentially, without success.

Aria had turned around to look at her, a little in pity and had turned back towards Alison. "Maybe we should wait" She had said hesitantly towards her friend.

"Hey, guys!" Mona kept saying aloud.

"My god." Alison had said with derision "Is she ever gonna get a clue? What a loser. Come on." Alison had grabbed Aria's harm and together they had started to run to get away from her, laughing all the while. They had stopped suddenly when, turning a corner, they had noticed an all too familiar car.

"Hey, isn't that your dad's car?" Alison had asked her. Aria had looked at the car and what she had noticed inside made her drop the ice-cream she had in hand. It was his father, kissing a blonde woman Aria had seen sometimes at Hollis. One of his father's students.

"Aria?" Emily called out, bringing her out of her memories. Her old friend had reached her side while Aria was distracted.

"Emily" Aria greeted her with a smile.

"When did you get back?" She asked while the two of them started walking towards the school's entrance.

"Yesterday" Aria said with a shrug.

"I almost didn't recognize you. I think the last time we saw each other, you had pink stripes in your hair."

Aria laughed at that "Well, when your parents want you to be yourself and you don't know who you are..."

"You wore it well" Emily said with a smile before turning serious "You should have called. It's so weird just running into you here"

"Oh. Well, we've kind of lost touch, Emily, remember?" Aria replied uncomfortably.

Emily nodded back at her "That's what we had to do"

"I saw a poster of Alison yesterday" Aria added then, remembering having seen it just before meeting Damon.

"It's awful. I mean, we all know she's dead, right?"

Aria looked surprised at that "I just never heard anyone say it".

They two of them walked inside the school and, after having found out that they shared the same class - Literature - they made their way towards the right classroom.

"So, I hear the new teacher's really hot" Emily said with a grin while the both of them reached their seats, in the middle rows. Aria smiled back amused, before sitting down. She noticed a blonde girl entering the class in that moment and she took a few seconds to realize why she looked so familiar.

"Is that Hanna?" Aria asked surprised towards Emily.

Emily looked at Hanna for a second before nodding with a grin. "She's the "It" girl now"

And then, at the entrance of a pretty, petite brunette, Emily added "And where there's Hanna, there's Mona"

Aria looked astonished at the girl that had just entered the room "That's Mona?"

Emily nodded understandingly at her surprised expression "Can you believe it?"

Aria shook her head, still not over her surprise "Wow. Talk about a makeover"

Hanna waved at her and Emily before turning her head, almost in dismissal.

"What's up with her?" Aria asked, curious about Hanna's behavior "You two fighting?"

"We didn't just fall out of touch with you, Aria." Emily explained to her "We all fell out of touch with each other."

Spencer entered in that moment and she smiled shyly to Hanna.

Emily, having noticed the scene too, added "They're not so close anymore either" Referring to Hanna and Spencer.

Aria nodded in understanding "So they're friendly, but not friends".

The moment was interrupted by the new teacher that made his way into the class right in that moment. Aria went to search into her bag for pen and paper and didn't look at him. The teacher kept his back towards the classroom while writing his name on the blackboard "Mr Salvatore". Aria missed all of this because she started writing today's date on her notebook. She didn't realize that her teacher had turned around nor that he was looking at her with an astonished look but also an amused smirk on his attractive face.

"You've got to be kidding me" A familiar voice said and Aria raised her head in surprise at that point. She stared at him, equally astonished, once the realization that the person she was making out with passionately in the bathroom of a bar the day before, was now her teacher. Damon kept staring at her without saying another word. The students in the classroom looked at the scene in front of them with curiosity.

The moment was interrupted, though, by Aria's phone ringing. Aria shook her head before searching for her phone inside her bag. She apologized to Damon - Mr Salvatore - before reading the text she had just received. It took her a few seconds to understand the content of it. " _Maybe he fools around with students all the time. A lot of teachers do, just ask your Dad. -_ **A** _"._

"I'm Mr. Salvatore" Aria heard Damon saying, his voice cool and relaxed, while she kept staring at the SMS in astonishment "Your new English teacher"

"Alison?" Aria wondered to herself while continuing looking at the signed 'A' that concluded the message.

* * *

Damon looked at the classroom around him, now empty of students and for the first time since having come into this town, he wondered if he had done the right thing by leaving Mystic Falls. Sure, life in Mystic Falls was beyond crazy. There was a new villain to kill every day, the people closest to him kept dying around him. But it was still home. Because of Stefan, because of Elena...

Rosewood was apparently a nice, peaceful, boring town and he had thought that this was the perfect place to start over and build a new life for himself while in the meantime deciding what he wanted to do in the long run. Becoming a teacher had been a spur of the moment decision actually since he didn't need to work, he had more than enough money to live for the next five hundred years at least, let alone the little time he had left now since he had become human.

If he had known that taking this teaching position at Rosewood High would land him in this awkward situation, he would never have accepted it in the first place.

Picking up a girl in a bar was nothing new for him, but finding out that the girl in question was actually his student, well, that was a completely different matter entirely.

Once upon a time he would have found the situation amusing, and part of him still did. But he had not the ability to compel himself out of trouble anymore. A matter like this could make him end up in jail, no matter how startlingly powerful his connection with Aria was.

Of course, having a relationship with a student would be nothing in comparison with the awful things he had done in the past. Still, the question was, was it worth it? Risking everything for a girl he had just met?

His mental queries were interrupted by Aria herself, making her way into the classroom.

Damon looked at her and shook his head. "Hollis College is on the other side of town. I think you're in the wrong place..." He said sarcastically with an eyebrow raised. "Oh no, you're not..."

"I never actually said that I went to Hollis" Aria said with an apologetic smile while coming closer to his desk. "Only that I was thinking about majoring in English" Then with a shrug, she added "And that's true"

"Lying but not actually lying...very good" He said, now amused. Then becoming serious, he said "Look, Aria. I think you're an amazing girl. And I can't deny that there's something between us, a connection." Aria smiled at those words "But..." He went to continue before being interrupted.

Aria had come closer to him while he was speaking and she was now standing besides his desk. She took his hand - resting on the desk - in hers before speaking herself. "I'm still that girl. Nothing's changed" She said, as a way to convince him that everything could stay the same.

"Everything has changed, Aria. I'm your teacher." Damon said with a sad smile. "And...you don't actually know anything about me. What makes you think that what you're feeling right now, would still stay the same after finding out about my past? I'm not a good person Aria. And you're so young and innocent. I don't have the right to ruin that for you"

Aria shook her head at him "I have a past too Damon. Secrets that I'm not proud of. But they don't matter. What matters is the two of us. You and I, we have something. Don't deny that. I know it's not just me. You feel like this is right for us too."

Damon couldn't help but think about the similarities between this conversation and the different conversations he had had with Elena during the years he had known her. And maybe that was one of the reasons why he answered with those particulars words. "Oh, It is right." Damon said with a sad smile, before adding "Just not right now." And with that he removed his hand from under hers and got up from his chair. "I'm sorry Aria but we can't" He said before leaving the classroom and Aria behind.

* * *

Aria looked at Emily next to her, the both of them sitting on the swing chair under the porch of her house and wondered why she had come to her house, especially so late. Not that she was displeased about it. After the day she had, a friendly talk was just what she needed.

"I'm sorry for just stopping by" Emily said with her usual shy smile.

Aria smiled back at her "No. Any time, Em. Come on, you know that" The last year apart didn't matter. Emily was still one of her best friends.

Emily looked at her hesitantly before finally speaking what was obviously weighing on her mind. "Somebody left a note in my locker."

Aria became immediately alert at that "From 'A'?" She asked, almost already sure of the answer.

Emily looked surprised at that "You too?"

"Do you really think it's her?" Aria asked her with a half-hopeful, half-skeptical tone "Is it possible?"

Emily shook her head, but it was not in denial. "Only Alison could have known"

Aria looked curiously back at her "What? Known - known what?"

Emily started to speak, her tone uncertain. "It was..."

"Personal?" Aria interrupted her, now certain of the answer because the same thing had happened to her with that SMS.

"I really believed she was dead" Emily said, her tone confused.

Aria nodded in agreement "Yeah. Yeah, we all did"

"Could she really be back?" Emily asked her, almost pleading her to agree.

"I think she's playing with us" Aria answered, her tone a little harsh.

"Why would she do that?" Emily asked her like the idea was absurd.

Aria smiled a sad, almost mocking smile "It's Alison that we're talking about here. I mean, wasn't that her favorite sport?" She asked rhetorically.

"Should we tell someone?" Emily asked then, but she didn't sound particularly enthusiastic by the idea.

Aria immediately disagree "I don't... I don't know about you, but... I can't." If some of those secrets came out, a lot of people could get hurt, her family, Damon.. She couldn't allow that.

Emily nodded in agreement before smiling at her "I'm glad you're back"

Aria smiled back but couldn't really share in the sentiment "It's funny... I mean, even though I grew up here, I feel like a total outsider".

Emily looked at her before nodding "Me too".

* * *

Emily had left a few minutes ago and Aria was now sitting on the sofa of the living room watching TV. Suddenly the program she was watching was interrupted by the news. It was about Alison. they had found her body. "The current owners of the residence were in the process of demolishing the structure to make room for a renovation project when workers made the gruesome discovery." The speaker was saying "The parents of the deceased were unavailable for comment, but a family spokesperson has confirmed the gazebo was under construction the summer 15-year-old Alison DiLaurentis disappeared. Tonight, the family is asking for privacy as they come to terms with the sad ending to a year-long mystery. And local authorities are coming to terms with the fact that a killer is at large in Rosewood" Aria got up immediately for the couch, took her car keys and drove towards Alison's house.

A few meters away from the house, she immediately saw two agents of the coroner pushing a body in a bag on a stretcher. She shivered slightly at the sight before parking and going out of the car. She immediately saw Spencer on the other pavement and went to her. Aria greeted her with a nod before saying "I heard the cops take Hanna to the police station today".

Spencer immediately looked concerned at the news "You don't think she'd ever talk about..."

"The Jenna thing?" Hanna's voice interrupted her. She reached their side with a sad smile "We made a promise".

* * *

Damon got up the stairs of the church quickly, having noticed Aria walking in that direction and, in a spur of the moment's decision, he had decided to follow her. He needed to talk to her, and even if he understood that a funeral was not the best place to do it, the high school was an even worse setting.

"Was she a friend of yours?" Damon asked her, almost as a greeting, curious despite himself. He had noticed Aria looking at Alison DiLaurentis' poster the day they had met and now she was there, attending her funeral. It was obvious that she had known her, but how well had she known her? Damon, for his part, was attending just out of curiosity since Alison's disappearance had made a lot of noise in town, and also because, as a new teacher in the high school Alison used to attend, he almost considered it his duty to do so.

Aria turned towards him and with a pissed-off look that Damon personally found adorable, she asked him "Do you care?"

"Okay, I deserved that" Damon answered with a slight smirk, almost proud of her fierce attitude. "I don't know what is worse. Having to stay away from you or being a jerk about it".

Aria visibly softened at his words and sighed, coming closer to him "Yeah, she was one of my best friends"

"I'm sorry" Damon told her sincerely since he knew personally the pain of losing a best friend.

Aria looked at him curiously, her tone still a little angry. "For Alison, or for being a jerk?"

"Both" Damon merely said with a shrug.

Aria nodded and smiled slightly at him "Thank you" She hesitated a little before coming even closer to him. They were barely thirty centimeters apart. "I would never want to do anything that would get you in trouble." Aria said, her voice low and a little pained. She leaned towards him to kiss his cheek and Damon couldn't help but breath in her scent, at the same time savoring the feeling of her lips on his skin. "Goodbye, Damon".

Aria walked past him, about to go away but Damon couldn't help himself. He caught her arm to stop her before spinning her towards him and kissing her passionately. He didn't know what it was about her that made him forget everything around him, the terrible things he had done in his past, his pain and heartbreak after losing Elena, the fact that he had abandoned his brother without so much as a goodbye, the fact that he was Aria's teacher so what they were doing now was strictly forbidden. Everything took a back seat when it came to her.

Aria was the first to stop the kiss, looking at him with a sad look but Damon didn't want to let her go just yet. Aria moved his hair away from his forehead, staring at him for a few more seconds before readjusting the bag's handle that had fallen below her shoulder and then walked away. Damon stayed immobile, watching her go and asking himself what was wrong with him, that he always chose to get caught up in love stories that were always doomed from the start.

* * *

Aria walked into the church, still affected by what had happened a few minutes before with Damon, before going to greet Alison's mother. "Mrs. DiLaurentis" She said to her with a shy smile. The beautiful and elegant woman, blonde like Alison had been, turned towards her before smiling herself. "Aria!" She said, hugging her warmly "I'm so glad you came. I asked the other girls to sit together up front. It's what Alison would have wanted" Aria looked at the front of the church at those words and noticed Hanna, Spencer and Emily already sitting there. Aria nodded in agreement "Of course".

Aria started to approach the first rank but she couldn't help but stop at the sight of Alison's coffin, closed and with a wreath of flowers over it, before her gaze moved inexorably to Alison's photo, her friend's face smiling at the people gathered for her commemoration. She was suddenly distracted from her contemplations by Hanna that took her hand in hers. Aria smiled at her old friend before going to sit with her, Emily and Spencer, their little group reunited once again because of Alison.

"Poor Ali" She heard Emily commenting sadly.

"Can you believe what a scene this is?" Hanna said with a smile and Aria returned that smile with one of her own. "Alison would have loved it."

Spencer added her own two cent into the conversation "Popular in life and death". The four of them shared a smile before turning serious again a few seconds later.

Suddenly Hanna retrieved a phial of alcohol from her bag before offering it to Emily that seemed the most affected one of them all. Emily shook her head in refusal. "No thanks. I don't..." But Hanna interrupted her firmly. "Today, I think you do." Aria couldn't help but agree with her.

Suddenly Aria heard her phone ringing and read her message from her mother " _Running a little late. See you inside_ ". Aria smiled at the message but Hanna's strange tone when she asked her if it was anyone they knew, caught her attention. She looked at Spencer and Emily and noticed how uncomfortable, almost scared, they looked. "No, it's just my mom sending me a text." Aria answered before adding "Emily and I aren't the only ones who got messages from 'A', are we?"

Spencer and Hanna nodded at her before turning around and exclaiming "Oh, my God. It's Jenna".

Aria and the other turned around too and observed the blind girl making her way towards a free seat. They turned back around again before being joined by Alison's mother who sat next to them.

"Did you see that Jenna Marshall was here?" Mrs DiLaurentis asked them "I didn't realize she and Ali were friends".

"They weren't" Spencer immediately answered, suspicion evident in her tone.

"The lord giveth and the lord taketh away." The Minister started his speech, and with that the ceremony began.

At the end of it, Aria made her way outside of the church, her arm around Hanna's and Spencer and Emily following behind. They were suddenly stopped by a voice Aria didn't know but that seemed to know who the four of them were because he called their names aloud. "Emily, Spencer, Aria and Hanna"

The four of them stopped and turned around. "Do we know you?" Spencer immediately asked.

The man smiled at them with a - frankly - creepy smile before answering "I'm Detective Wilden. I understand you were all good friends with the victim".

"Yeah, we were" Aria answered this time.

"I'm gonna need to talk to each one of you." Wilden said, after nodding at what Aria had just said.

"We talked to the police when Alison went missing" Spencer said, her tone hesitant this time.

"And I intend to go over every one of your statements. This is no longer a missing person's investigation. It's a murder" Then with a smile more fitting of a predator, he continued "Rest assured, I will find out what happened that summer"

The moment was interrupted by Damon coming their way. He had obviously noticed Aria's uncomfortable expression, that she imagined she had plastered on her face for everyone to see. She couldn't help the involuntary smile at the sight of him, especially because he was looking at Wilden with a rather scary look on his face.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" Damon asked the detective, with an arrogant smirk on his face.

"And who are you?" Wilden asked, obviously taken off-guard by Damon's sudden appearance but trying not to show it.

"I'm these girls' teacher and, if I'm not much mistaken, a member of the police department can't interrogate a minor without an adult present, not even a detective". He had obviously heard part of the conversation and had decided to come to their aid. Aria noticed the impressed faces of her friends while looking at him and she couldn't help but feel proud of him.

"First of all, I don't think this is a place suited for it. Interrogating four teenagers after they had just left their friend's funeral is in really bad taste." Damon continued, his tone snarky and sarcastic.

"We were just having a friendly chat. Nothing formal." Wilden answered, looking a little uncomfortable now.

"Well, you can continue having your 'friendly chat' with me present. Or I could call one of their parents if you'd prefer" Damon said with a dangerous smile. Aria looked at him in complete admiration and cursed once again her luck at Damon being her teacher.

"I was done anyway" Wilden said before nodding his head at them in farewell. "Girls" he said before walking away.

Damon turned to look at them with a smile. "Are you all okay?" His gaze lingered a little too long on her but fortunately her friends didn't seem to notice. Aria smiled shyly back at him.

"Yes, thank you Mr Salvatore" Spencer answered with a smile.

"Very impressive, Mr Salvatore" Hanna added, almost with a flirty tone.

Damon smirked at them before saying "I better go now. See you in class girls" And, after a last look towards Aria, he walked away.

Aria and the others watched him go before noticing Jenna making her way towards a car, helped by her walking stick and they stared at her for a few seconds.

"Do you think Wilden knows about...?" Aria asked, not feeling the need to finish her sentence since the others knew perfectly well what she was referring to.

"No" Hanna immediately answered "How could he?"

Their phones suddenly began to ring simultaneously and Aria retrieved hers, a sinking feeling making its way into her stomach "Oh, my god!" She exclaimed in both shock and dismay.

"It's from..." Hanna began to say before being interrupted by Emily. "I got one too"

" _I'm still here, bitches_ " Spencer began to read and the three of them followed soon after "... _And I know everything. -_ **A** ".

The four of them looked alternatively at each other and at the text they had just received, trying to assimilate what had just happened. Aria had the feeling that this was just the beginning.

_"You can't turn back the hands of time_   
_Just let it go and you'll be fine_   
_What's done is done and its alright_   
_You can't turn back the hands of time"_

_**(Hands of Time - Rachel Diggs)** _


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2. Sorry for the wait. Not much changes from the original episode but when Damon will find out about A, things will change. Hope you like it anyway and thanks to everyone who read, review and liked my story in general. Really glad you like it.

**Chapter 2**

_"All through the night, I'll be awake and I'll be with you._  
All through the night, this precious time, when time is new.  
All, all through the night today, knowing that we feel  
the same, without saying, the same without saying"

**_(All Through The Night - Sleeping at Last)_ **

"Do you think he's following us?" Hanna asked in a whisper, her head turned towards the man sitting at the counter, sipping bourbon. It was Damon, still with his suit on but without tie. Aria couldn't help herself but looking at him for longer than what was considered wise. Damon looked at them for a moment before returning his attention towards his drink.

"He was here before us, Hanna. I don't think he's following us" Spencer said a little sarcastically.

"Still, if he wasn't so hot, I will be suspicious" Hanna said with a smirk.

"Hanna, he's our teacher" Spencer said in reprimand.

"So? Doesn't mean I'm blind. He's hot for a man, let alone a teacher". Aria felt uncomfortable at hearing her friends talking about Damon like that but she didn't say anything. She couldn't risk her friends becoming suspicious.

"It was pretty cool. The way he spoke up for us, with that detective" Emily added then.

"Yes, it was cool" Aria said with a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. They took their seat at one of the tables near the glass window and ordered something to eat and drink.

As soon as the funeral was over, Aria and the other girls had decided to take refuge inside the "Apple Rose Grille", still shaken after the events of the last few days. Between finding out Ali was really dead, her funeral, finding out that Jenna had showed up at Ali's funeral, that the cops somehow suspected them of being involved in Ali's death and that there was someone who knew all of their secrets, they were plenty justified in being upset.

"Why was Jenna there?" Aria asked in a whisper, trying not to attract attention to themselves. Not that there were a lot of people inside the grille, just an elderly couple and a few servers, besides Damon of course.

"I guess she's back" Spencer answered with a shrug.

"That cop acted like we were suspects or something" Hanna interjected.

"Do you think we looked guilty?" Asked Emily then with a worried tone.

Aria frowned at that "Why would we? We haven't done anything wrong".

"Except lie about 'the Jenna Thing'" Whispered Hanna in answer.

"We promised we'd never bring up 'the Jenna Thing' again" said Spencer, always the voice of reason. "Remember? It never happened"

"Have you found a way to forget?" Aria asked no one in particular, guilt suddenly filling her "I still wake up sometimes in the middle of the night..."

"Aria, it was an accident" Interrupted Spencer with a tone of finality.

Aria noticed Emily looking down at the bracelet with her name on it and nervously playing with it. It was similar to the other ones that Aria, Hanna and Spencer had once upon a time, bracelets Alison had given them as a symbol of their friendship. She obviously hadn't forgotten.

Hanna dumped the last of the booze from her silver flask into her diet coke. The old man sitting at a few tables of distance from them saw her and looked at her in judgment.

"It's medicinal" Hanna defended herself immediately. The man kept staring at her in judgment. "Cramps" Hanna added then and the guy finally looked away.

"I don't get it" Emily exclaimed in a whisper "How does 'A' know something about me that only Alison knew?" They shared a look, the same worried expression on their faces.

"Ali knew all of our secrets" Aria said, almost in response "but we didn't know any of hers".

"I knew some" Spencer added, almost proud of that little fact.

They all looked at her in curiosity. "Go on" Aria encouraged her a little impatiently.

"Talk" said Hanna immediately after.

"I can't" Protested Spencer, reluctant to share more.

"Spence, you are not going to drop a bomb like that and clam up" Aria looked at her with an expression of resolve on her face.

"She'd so kill me if I told you" Spencer replied, stalling.

"She's dead!" Hanna said in response. Aria mentally agreed with her, knowing that Ali was not going to be upset with anyone because she was not there with them anymore so she couldn't exactly protest.

"Ali was seeing someone that summer" Spencer finally relented.

"I knew she was keeping something from me" Emily said in dismay. Noticing the look the others were giving her, she immediately amended "From us".

"Why didn't she want us to know?" Aria asked, a little hurt.

"He was an older boy." Spencer answered with a shrug. "And he had a girlfriend".

"Who was it?" Emily asked curiously.

"Can we at least have initials?" Hanna asked immediately after.

Spencer shook her head "She never told me his name".

"That's only half a secret" Hanna said in disappointment.

"It's more than you ever got from her" Spencer replied, defensive.

"How was it that Alison told us nothing and we told her everything?" Aria asked rhetorically, suddenly noticing this particular fact.

"She made us feel like we were a part of something special" Emily said in reply, her tone almost wistful.

"We were" Replied Hanna with a gentle smile towards Emily.

"I miss that" Aria agreed with a sigh.

"Me, too" Spencer said with a nod of her head.

"I miss Ali" Emily sighed in sadness.

A few minutes later a waiter came to refill Spencer's coffee cup and dropped a packet of sugar onto the table.

"She's gonna need more than that" Aria said to the waiter with an amused smile, referring to the sugar.

At the bewildered look from the waiter, Emily added "She hates the taste, but loves the rush".

The waiter shrugged in response but dropped three more packets and, sure enough, Spencer poured all of the sugar into her coffee.

As Emily handed Hanna a spoon, Hanna noticed the friendship bracelet that Emily still wore.

"I can't believe you still wear that" Hanna said, but she seemed almost awed.

Emily looked a little self-conscious but she answered anyway "We swore we'd never take them off. Alison still wears hers..." Then after an awkward second, she amended "Wore".

"So for the entire year I was gone, Jenna was away?" Aria asked then, a little out of the blue. She couldn't stop thinking about the fact that she was back and that she had returned the moment they had found out Alison was dead. It was an hell of a coincidence.

Spencer nodded at her "She left Rosewood that night and never came back".

"If Jenna is 'A'" Aria exclaimed then, whispering "then this is about revenge".

"Sorry, but 'A' is 'watching' us and that rules out Jenna." Hanna disagreed with her usual bluntness.

Aria and the others shoot Hanna a look at that. Aria couldn't believe she had just said that, talking about being tactless.

"Those sunglasses aren't a fashion statement" Hanna continued nonchalantly "She's blind". She grabbed a sweet potato from the communal plate at the center of the table and started munching on it. Aria noticed once again Emily playing with her bracelet.

"When Ali didn't come home I knew something terrible must have happened to her" Spencer commented "but there was a part of me that imagined someday she would just show up".

Aria nodded in agreement at that, still unable to believe that Ali was dead "I used to think maybe Ali had run off with some guy".

"That she was laying on a beach somewhere..." Emily continued for her.

"Getting a tan with that hot lifeguard who worked at the pool" Hanna put her cent in too.

"What was his name?" Aria asked, not remembering.

"Who cares?" Hanna asked rhetorically. "'Save me!'" She said, imitating Ali's voice.

They laughed together at that and for just that moment they were just four friends again. And then, after the laughter faded, Spencer said, her voice almost cracking. "I can't believe she's gone".

Suddenly, all four of them heard the repeated tap, tap of cane hitting the ground, growing closer and louder. The four of them looked immediately at the direction the sound was coming from and they immediately noticed Jenna, white cane with red tip in hand and a pair of dark sunglasses covering her eyes, standing in the doorway of the restaurant.

Aria almost held her breath, observing Jenna making her way towards a seat at the counter, not far away from where Damon was sitting. Aria noticed Damon looking alternatively at her and Jenna with a confused frown on his face. Damon was just too perceptive for his own good. He had obviously noticed that something was going on between Jenna, Aria and her friends.

Aria exchanged a look with the others and immediately after Spencer stood up from the table. A second later Aria, Emily and Hanna followed suit. The four of them didn't utter a word as they walked past Jenna and out of the restaurant. Aria looked at Damon for a second before crossing the front door of the restaurant and walking outside. After a few exchanged words between them, they all headed into different directions. Aria looked at Jenna from the glass window, sitting alone, she sighed and walked away.

* * *

Damon had just left the Grille and gotten into his Camaro, directed towards home when he noticed Aria walking up ahead. He couldn't help himself from stopping to talk to her.

Aria noticed him too and stopped walking. Damon got out of his car after making sure there was no one around beside the two of them. Aria came closer until she was standing right in front of him. They locked eyes for a long moment, their gazes expressing all that they couldn't say aloud. Damon offered her a disarming smirk to ease the tension and Aria immediately smiled back at him.

"I can't seem to stay away from you, or stop thinking about you. Especially after what happened today" He said with a shrug, explaining why he had stopped to talk to her right now. "Are you okay?"

Aria shrugged in return "I will be".

"It's not easy, losing someone you cared about. It leaves a hole in your life that it can't be filled, even if you are still able to go on with your life".

Aria smiled sadly back at him "We lost Alison a year ago. Today was more about admitting it to ourselves". They stayed for a few seconds in silence, a little awkwardly. "I'd offer you a ride..." Damon began but Aria interrupted him. "but I'd have to say 'no'. I meant what I said, Damon. I'd never do anything that would get you into trouble".

Damon smirked at that, thinking at the trouble they could get into while being alone in a car together. "And being alone with you in my car would probably lead to trouble..." He said, but he was grinning.

He received a flirtatious smile in return and a whispered 'Yeah'.

"But if it's only a few blocks..." Damon tried, temptingly. Aria looked at him intensely and Damon felt once again the powerful connection, the attraction towards her that had capture him since the first moment he had seen her in that bar.

"Damon" Aria said with cautious prudence. Damon nodded at her in return, understandingly. They needed to decide where they stood before throwing all caution to the wind and give into their impulses. it was a too dangerous of a game to do otherwise. Aria suddenly noticed the small shopping bag he had left on the dashboard of the car.

"So what did you buy?" Aria asked him, obviously to ease the sudden intensity between them.

He opened the car door, opened the shopping bag and pulled out a CD. It was 'The Fray'.

"B26. I couldn't resist" He explained with a boyish grin. Aria looked at him with a smile and Damon could read in her eyes the fact that she recognized the significance of his purchase. Whatever it was he was feeling towards this girl, it wasn't one-sided. That was definitely an improvement from his usual pattern. He wanted to savor their moment but he knew it wasn't prudent, standing this out in the open.

"Good night, Mr Salvatore" Aria said then, recognizing his change in expression. Damon frowned at this, already wishing for Aria to return to calling him with his given name. He wanted so badly to kiss her in that moment, just to forget and make her forget the fact that he was her teacher. But he didn't. He sighed instead before saying "I'll see you at school". He went back in the car and after a last look towards Aria, he drove away.

* * *

Aria was having breakfast at the kitchen table, her mother sitting next to her. Ella went to refill her cup of coffee before commenting "I had to look twice to make sure that was Hanna". She had seen her yesterday at the funeral and had had pretty much the same reaction as Aria. "Right?" Aria asked rhetorically, nodding too for good measure.

"That was some funeral dress. Her mother didn't buy that at Curvy Girl" Continued Ella and in that moment her father entered the kitchen. "Who shops at Curvy Girl?" He asked them with a smile.

"No one anymore" Ella said with a grin. Aria felt suddenly like all her good mood had gone out the window. Byron poured himself a cup of coffee, sipping it while standing. Ella obviously noticed because she asked him "No time for breakfast?"

"No, and I'll probably be late tonight, too" Byron said casually but Aria was immediately suspicious, she couldn't help it.

"Late nights already?" She asked but her tone was light "You just got back".

"Yeah, what's that about?" Her tone was very different from her mother, accusatory, but she couldn't help it.

"What's it about?" Byron said in response "Being gone for a year. Playing catch-up. Faculty meetings, changing my curriculum, demanding students".

"Maybe your family's demands should come first" Aria replied, her tone hard. They exchanged a look, Byron pleading with her to understand and Aria having none of it. She got up from the table before saying "I'm gonna be late" She kissed her mother on the cheek and walked out the door without looking at her father.

* * *

Damon had just arrived at Rosewood High and was slowly walking towards his classroom when he noticed Aria coming from the opposite direction. They met in the middle of the hallway and Damon smiled at her before checking that they were alone. Fortunately the hall was deserted. Aria didn't smile back though, her expression serious.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Of course" Damon replied back immediately.

"I'd like to transfer out of your class" At Aria's words Damon frowned, his face revealing his surprise and disappointment. A few students sauntered down the hall and Damon decided that it was better for them to have this conversation alone. He opened the door of his classroom before telling Aria "Will you come inside, for just a minute?"

Aria followed him into the empty classroom. As soon as the two of them were inside, he closed the door behind her.

"I understand why you would want to leave my class but...I really wish you'd stay" Damon said, a plading tone in his voice that surprised even himself.

Aria looked at the ground for a second, probably trying to stand strong in the face of this difficult decision. "This isn't an easy decision, but I feel like it's the right thing to do" She said at last, her tone sad but firm.

"Maybe I should be the one to leave. Resign from Rosewood High..." Damon said with a shrug, everything in his posture screaming nonchalance even though his eyes were sad.

"No!" Aria protested immediately. "I would never ask you to do that. This is your job. You can't give up everything because of me".

"I know, and I didn't resign yet so chill!" He said with a smirk "I wish I could say that I can keep my feelings in check but impulse control's not my strong suit".

Aria smiled in response, but it wasn't a happy smile "Yeah well...neither can I. And even if I could, I don't want to" Her naked longing in her face hit him full in the stomach and he was once again overcome with the desire to kiss her and made her his. What was this girl doing to him?

"It's too hard to sit in this room everyday and call you 'Mr. Salvatore'" He continued, bringing him out of his thoughts. "I can't pretend like I don't know you" With that said, she handed him the school form, obviously having found her resolve. "Will you sign it?"

He glanced down at the document which reads: CLASS TRANSFER REQUEST. He frowned again and looked at her "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Aria nodded, her expression though was a little dubious "I'm sure". Damon signed the paper very reluctantly, almost feeling like he was signing a death warrant instead, then he handed it back to her. Their hands brushed in that moment. Aria thanked him, looking at him intensely for a long moment before leaving his class.

* * *

Aria left Damon's class feeling like a huge weight had taken residence inside her chest. She walked slowly towards her locker and noticed Spencer at hers and Emily and Hanna talking not far from her. She waved at them and she was about to open her locker when she heard "Will the following students please come to the office? Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings and Hanna Marin" coming from the administrator's office. The bell rang and the students filtered towards their classes. They were the only ones left in the hallway. Together they started the long walk toward the office. Aria's phone rang in that moment and the four of them immediately stopped in their tracks, tensing at the sound. Aria pulled the phone from her purse reluctantly and looked at the screen. "It's from 'A'" She said in a resigned tone. She showed it to them. Hanna read the text for everyone. "Dead Girls Walking." Aria shook her head, more annoyed this time than anything before the four of them started to walk once again towards the principal's office.

As soon as they entered they noticed the same detective that had talked to them after Ali's funeral, waiting for them inside. Aria noticed that no adult was present and wondered if cops in general thought themselves above the law or if it was just this one in particular. The four of them squeezed together on the couch inside the office that faced the door while Detective Wilden stayed standing, ready to question them.

He had the report from the times they had been questioned by the police after Ali went missing. After doing a recap of all that was written on it, he stated towards Spencer. "You affirmed that you thought you heard her 'scream'" It was a statement but he worded as a question, giving the impression that he was doubting the truthfulness of her words.

"I said that, yeah" Spencer stated in a defensive tone.

He nodded but otherwise his expression remained blank. He then looked at Aria, Emily and Hanna "And when you three woke up in the barn - Alison was gone but so was Spencer?"

"Yes" It was Spencer who answered once again "I woke up before them and I realized Ali was gone -"

Wilden looked at the statement before saying "So you went to look for her?"

"That's what happened" Spencer's tone was now annoyed.

"Was this a slumber party?" Widen asked in a tone that made Aria realized he already the answer.

"Is this an interrogation?" Spencer fired back immediately.

"No." Wilden replied, his tone conciliatory but it was obvious to anyone that he wasn't sincere "Just a routine follow-up. Why did you all fall asleep?"

"I guess we were tired" Aria couldn't help her tone from being sarcastic.

"Is that how it was, Hanna?" Wilden asked, looking at Hanna.

"Yes" Hanna answered immediately.

"We've told you everything we know" Interjected Spencer "Just like we did the night she went missing".

"Yeah, I know" Wilden said, a strange glint in his eyes "It's almost exactly what you said last year. Almost like it was rehearsed". There was a tense silence before Aria said "Like Spencer said, we've told you everything we know" Her tone couldn't mask her irritation.

* * *

It was lunch time and the four of them were sitting around one of the many tables in the school cafeteria, talking about what happened with Wilden. None of them was much interested in the plates filled with food in front of them.

"He knows we're lying" Aria expressed aloud what they were all thinking.

"Lying's not a crime" Hanna commented, flippantly.

"It is when you're giving false statements to the police." Spencer said, her lecturing tone appearing most of the time when the situation was serious. "It's called obstruction of justice..."

Hanna rolled her eyes. She didn't seem particularly worried, or at least that's what she wanted to appear like. "Oh, please. We lied about drinking. The truth that matters is we don't know anything about what happened to Ali that night".

"We also know about someone who might have wanted to hurt her" Spencer interjected again.

"We should have told the police the truth about Jenna's accident the night it happened" Emily said, her tone worried and guilty at the same time.

"I wanted to, remember?" Hanna said with a 'told-you-so' tone.

"We had a chance to do more than tell the truth" Added Aria, once again feeling the guilt about what they had done. "We had a chance to stop Ali".

"But we didn't" Spencer finished for her. They exchanged a remorseful look. Aria noticed Mona out of the corner of her eye, carrying her lunch tray. Mona saw Hanna sitting with them and walked away with a hurt expression. Aria frowned but didn't comment.

"Telling the police now about what happened to Jenna isn't going to make her see again. It'll just ruin our lives" Spencer continued. Aria looked past Emily and saw Jenna, standing alone and carrying her lunch tray.

Hanna had obviously noticed her too because she commented "Oh, my God, she's back in school too?". Aria didn't pay attention to her and kept looking at Jenna. She noticed a boy bumping into her. She looked vulnerable and lost in that moment and without thinking about what she was doing Aria got up from the table and approached her. "Jenna, it's Aria. Would you like to join us?" Jenna looked surprised at her but she nodded "Sure".

Aria lead Jenna to their table but almost stumbled for a moment when she noticed Damon looking at her with a peculiar expression, like he was trying to figure something out. He was sitting with the other teachers at one of the tables, Mrs Welch talking to him but he obviously wasn't paying much attention to her, too intent as he was in looking at her. He stared at her for a few more seconds before moving his gaze away from her. Aria breathed deeply before continuing walking, Jenna on her arm.

"Everything okay?" Jenna asked her. She had obviously noticed her stopping.

"Yes, yes" She replied, slightly distracted. Aria turned to look at her friends and noticed immediately their disbelieving faces, not believing that she had invited Jenna to their table.

"Here's a chair" Aria said to Jenna, directing Jenna towards the only free chair left at their table. "You're between Hanna and Spencer and Emily is directly across from you". After Jenna had sat down, Aria returned to her chair.

"So this would be Alison's chair?" Jenna asked then.

"No. We're not even sitting at that table" Was Emily's answer.

Jenna smirked a little before saying "You know she came to see me in the hospital after the accident".

"Alison did?" Spencer asked incredulously. The four girls shared an extremely surprised look before looking towards Jenna again.

"So many people misunderstood her" Jenna continued, referring to Ali. "But I knew exactly who Alison was".

"When did you get back, Jenna?" Spencer asked her then, not completely able to mask her suspicious tone. "We heard you were in Philadelphia at a school for the visually impaired".

"You can say blind, Spencer. It's not a dirty word" Jenna said, amused. Aria and her friends exchanged a remorseful look at that.

"So quiet" Jenna commented then. "This used to be the fun table. What happened to you girls?"

Aria couldn't help by going back to that night, the night of the 'Jenna thing' as they were calling it now.

It was July 4th. A little more than one year ago. The four of them and Alison were in Emily's room, listening to music and trying on various outfits for that night's festivities. Alison pulled on a skimpy, summer top while Emily looked innocently on. Alison caught her gaze in the mirror before shooting her a smile that Aria wasn't unable to identify. Hanna watched Alison as she modeled the top with a look of slight envy.

Suddenly Alison whipped around and glared at something at the window behind her. "I see you!" She shouted before storming over the window and throwing it open. "Oh, my God. I can't believe it!" She exclaimed dramatically after having looked outside. The other girls ran over to see what Alison had seen.

"Who was it, Ali?" Emily asked what everyone else wanted to "What did you see?"

"He was in that tree, spying on us. I am so creeped out!" Alison answered in a strident voice.

"Who was it?" Spencer asked, her voice a little shaken.

"That perv Toby Cavanaugh" Alison replied immediately.

"Are you sure?" Aria asked, not entirely convinced.

"Yes, Aria" Alison answered in a slightly irritated tone. "He was right there!"

"I'm sure he saw us all naked" Alison continued, shivering in disgust for good measure.

The girls cringed at the thought of it.

"We should tell someone" Aria immediately proposed.

"We could" Alison said before smirking "But I've got a better idea".

Following Ali's lead, they had reached the Cavanaugh's backyard while fireworks exploded in the distance in celebration of the 4th of July. Alison lead the girls across the lawn and toward a free standing garage.

As they neared the garage, Alison pulled a stink bomb firecracker from her pocket. The girls looked at her uncertain, not really keen on following Ali's plan but also unable to say no to her.

"Are we sure he's not in there?" Aria whispered worried.

Alison rolled her eyes at her in annoyance. "He's not, okay? You've got the lighter, right Spencer?". Before Spencer could do that, Emily interrupted.

"Let's wait a second" Emily tried to make Ali see reason but without success.

"What, Emily?" Alison turned her head towards Emily like a poisonous snake.

"I don't want to do this" Emily protested bravely.

"Fine" Alison said in a tone that expressed how it was  _not_  fine at all for her. "Go back. You're on your own".

Emily shook her head but didn't move to go away.

"Maybe Emily's right" Aria said then. "If we tell the police they'll bring him in. They'll take care of it".

Alison snorted at that "What's the fun in that?" Nobody answered so Alison continued "Toby Cavanaugh is a freak and we need to teach him a lesson. If he thinks he can come and spy on us while we're in your bedroom, Emily, he needs to know that his "domain" is no longer a safe little hideout". Alison looked over at the garage with an air of disgust. "Who knows what he does in there all day, that freak".

"Are you sure it was Toby?" Spencer asked then.

"Yes" Alison replied exasperated "and it's a stink bomb for God's sakes. We're not nuking the place. Now let's do it".

She sneaked closer to the garage while the others exchanged cautious looks before following their leader one-by-one.

When they reached the garage, Alison opened the top half of the Dutch door and peaked inside. The garage is full of exercise equipments, computer stuff and band posters decorated the walls.

"Give me the lighter" Alison ordered once again.

Spencer handed Ali the lighter. Alison's expression is gleeful. She ignited the firecracker fuse and when it sparked, she tossed it into the garage.

Alison took a last look at the inside of the garage before saying "Let's get out of here".

She run back across the yard with the other girls running along side of her. Suddenly the heard it, the sound that changed their lives forever - a girl screaming in terror: Jenna.

Alison and the girls stopped dead in their tracks as the garage burned behind them.

Aria was brought back to reality but the sound of four phones ringing simultaneously, one of these hers.

Jenna picked up Spencer's phone that was vibrating on the table. "Aren't you going to get that?" She asked before handing the phone to Spencer.

Aria exchanged a look with Spencer before checking the message on her phone.

 _"If only she could see how guilty you look." -_ **A**.

Aria looked at the phone guiltily before looking at Jenna. She shook her head and in that moment the bell rang. Lunch break was over. Aria and the others got up from the table and Aria looked at Damon once again, noticing that he was still sitting at the teachers' table. She sighed slightly, knowing that she needed to go to the principal's office to change classes.

* * *

The next morning Damon entered his classroom and immediately noticed Aria's empty place. His face showed his disappointment for half a second before turning around and starting to write on the board today's lesson plan.

He turned to the class once again "Let's take our seats, people" He ordered in a voice that brooked no argument. The few people still standing immediately took their seats. Damon almost smirked at that. They were learning fast to respect him and listened to him it seemed.

Damon noticed immediately that Emily Fields, Spencer Hastings and Hanna Marin - Aria's friends from Alison DiLaurentis' funeral - were still standing near Spencer's desk and whispering with each other. He was able to hear what they were talking about just barely, leftovers of his super-vampire-hearing.

"Where's Aria?" Emily asked and Hanna smirked before looking directly at him. Damon turned his head so as to not be caught eavesdropping. "Maybe you should ask Mr Salvatore here" Damon frowned at that, wondering how much Hanna knew about them or if she knew anything at all. Maybe she was just joking.

"Ladies, take your seats" Damon ordered once again and this time they complied. As soon as the girls took their seats, the door opened and everyone turned around to see who was late for that morning's lesson. It was Mona Vanderwaal, Hanna's friend.

"Am I late?" She asked with the voice of someone who had her head in the clouds often. And yet Damon felt that it was more an act on her part that her real personality. Maybe to be popular she wanted to appear stupid? Damon shook his head and wondered when he had started to care about teenage drama? Was it since he had fallen in love with Elena or was it just now that he was - dare he say it - falling for a teenage girl once again. "It's Mona, right?" Damon asked her, hoping he had not spent too much time stuck inside his head.

"That's right, Mr. Salvador" Damon almost cringed at that but smirked amused instead. The entire class laughed and Mona looked around her confused. "What?"

Damon shook his head before saying "Take your seat, Mona, please".

Damon looked at Mona taking her seat next to Hanna and Hanna explaining to her in a whisper "It's Salvatore, not Salvador".

"Oops" Mona replied, half apologetic, half amused.

Damon started to pass out worksheets as a way to turn their attention back to the lesson "If the mockingbird represents the idea of innocence - what characters in the book are innocent?" he lectured "Take a minute to list your ideas".

As the class reviewed their books and started to write down ideas, Damon turned back to his desk before starting to write on the board again. He heard the door opening once again and turned around. He came closer to the desk when he noticed Aria laying a document on the desk before walking to her desk. Damon glanced at the document: it was her transfer request form that had been declined. Damon raised his eyes towards her and saw her take a copy of 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' out of her bag. When all heads were looking down, Aria finally allowed herself to look up at Damon. In that moment their eyes met and they shared a private, aching look. Damon had to force himself to look away from her and remind himself that he still had a lesson to teach. He allowed himself a small, private smile before turning around once again towards the blackboard and continuing to write what he had started before Aria entered the classroom.

* * *

Aria entered the Grill and immediately headed to the counter. While she waited for her order to be ready, she noticed Spencer making her way towards her. Spencer approached her just as the server handed her her order.

"Hey" Aria immediately greeted her.

"Hey" Spencer smiled back at her once she was in front of Aria. "I was gonna e-mail you when I got home. How weird was that lunch?"

Aria grimaced slightly in reply "I'd say on a scale of one to ten, eleven".

"Do you really think Alison went to see Jenna in the hospital?"

Aria shrugged at Spencer's question "Maybe".

"Why would she keep that from us?"

Aria shook her head before answering "Because she didn't want us to know what they talked about" Aria looked past Spencer for a second and saw Melissa arriving with a handsome guy before sitting at the table where Peter Hastings was already seated.

"Is that the new fiancé?" Aria asked with a grin. Aria didn't notice the exchange between Spencer and Wren because she asked "Is he as uptight as Melissa?" Aria asked, only half-joking.

Spencer grinned back "No one's as uptight as Melissa".

Aria nodded in agreement before saying "I heard you were nominated for class president today. Congrats."

"I actually think I'm going to pass on it this year" Spencer said in response, her tone not at all enthusiastic or proud like Aria thought she would be. Aria was truly taken aback by her answer.

"Will the real Spencer Hastings please stand up?" She asked in disbelief.

"My parents let me redo the barn this summer and I loved doing it. I want to take a design class at Hollis and there's no way I could do both" Spencer explained then.

"When can I see it?" Aria asked with a smile.

"You won't. Melissa's living there now" Spencer replied in obvious disappointment. Spencer turned her head a second and glanced over at her family's table. Everyone was already seated at that point. "I'd better get back". Aria nodded before saying goodbye to her and leaving the Grill.

* * *

Damon had decided that that night, since it was Saturday and he had nothing better to do besides get drunk at a bar, he would go to the only cinema in town and watched an old movie: 'It Happened One Night'. He had donned his beloved leather jacket, something he had not wore enough since he had become a teacher and walked the ten minutes required to reach the cinema from his house. He had bought a loft about three years ago, as soon as he had moved in this town and decided to stay, instead of spending his first year at college in a dorm. He didn't like to share his space and he was used to live in big places anyway, a dorm room would have been just too small for his tastes. Of course it had cost a small fortune but it hadn't make a dent in his extensive bank account.

He turned the corner and immediately noticed someone standing in front of the entrance to the cinema. Someone he was more than happy to see.

"Aria?" he couldn't hide the happiness in his voice at this unexpected encounter, not the smile that for a moment crossed his face. He was about to say something else once he was standing close enough to her but her words towards him stopped him in his tracks. "Mr Salvatore. Hi" Aria looked awkwardly at him and for a second Damon wondered if she felt so uncomfortable in his presence now that she had to call him 'Mr Salvatore' when they saw each other, even now that they were alone, just to maintain some distance between them. Then, a second later, he realized that they were  _not_  alone at all, after all.

He noticed a woman making her way towards Aria and he looked at her with a slight frown of confusion on his face. "This is my mother, Ella" Aria introduced them for his benefit.

 _"Oh. Awkward"_  Damon thought with an internal grimace before regaining his composure and assuming his 'teacher persona'.

"Mr. Salvatore, you're the new English teacher" Mrs Montgomery said with a kind smile his way. He didn't know why he was instantly reminded of Liz Forbes and couldn't help but like her because of that. things that made things even more awkward for him. He extended his hand in greetings anyway "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Montgomery".

"Ella, please" She said with a wave of her hand, almost to chase away a fly. "We're an extremely informal family. Are you here to see the movie?"

Damon nodded at her "It's one of my favorites".

"Aria's, too" Ella said with enthusiasm. "She told us a lot about you, but she left out the 'you're very young' part". Damon noticed immediately Aria's embarrassed face and almost smirked in amusement.

"We should get going. The movie's starting" Aria interjected immediately and Ella nodded at her.

"See you inside" Ella said before her and Aria made their way inside. Damon heard Ella's next words perfectly "You also forgot to mention how hot he is". Ella didn't see the "this is so damn awkward" look that washed over Aria but Damon did and smiled. He made his way inside too and bought his ticket before making his way inside. When he entered the theater, he noticed immediately that it was almost empty but tried to make his way towards a seat as far from Aria and her mother as possible. Unfortunately they had chosen seats right next to the middle aisle and he was forced to passed right next to them to search for a seat. What he was afraid was going to happen, actually did. "Mr. Salvatore" He heard Ella's voice calling out to him. "Come sit with us" Damon cringed but not seeing way out of this, he turned towards them and made his way towards the seat next to Aria. The lights went dark. Damon could feel Aria's warm body close to his even with the armrest between them and sat petrified in his seat. When Aria offered awkwardly the basket of pop-corn to him, he was barely able to move his head. With Aria's hand on the armrest and Damon's on his leg, their fingers were only inches apart and they ached to reach out to each other. Damon could the sexual tension building between them like it was a physical thing. They were going to be two  _long_  hours.

* * *

It was Sunday evening and after the awkward movie night, yesterday evening, Aria wanted and - at the same time - didn't want to see Damon any time soon. It was difficult  _not_  being near him, but at the same time it was difficult  _being_  near him because they couldn't be together like they both wanted. It made for strained situations, that was for sure.

Aria left the coffee shop and tried to ignore the heavy rain soaking through her clothes. Unfortunately she didn't have an umbrella with her and the only barrier she had against the rain was her jacket. She pulled the collar up and cursed slightly at the absence of a hoodie. She started to walk towards home when she noticed a blue Camaro driving in her direction. She immediately recognized Damon on the driver seat and stopped walking, looking at him. She noticed Damon slowing down and looking at her too. He didn't stop though. She watched him drive on with a feeling of dejection taking possession of her stomach.

Just when she was about to start walking again, she noticed the glow of the red tail lights illuminated in the rain. Damon stopped the car and opened the passenger seat. Aria run towards the car before getting in his car. Damon started the car once again and Aria stayed immobile in the driver seat, almost afraid to breathe.

The two of them didn't say a word. Damon pulled over on a quiet street and parked the car. Aria stared straight ahead and noticed Damon doing the same, knowing that if they looked at each other they will give into their passion. But Aria couldn't help herself and she turned to look at him.

"Damon" She said in a breath. That was enough it seemed because a moment later Damon had turned his face towards her and kissed her passionately. Damon kissed her like he was in the desert and dying of thirst and her mouth was the last sips of water he had left. His tongue scavenged her mouth, fighting against hers and taking all that he could have. Aria couldn't say how much the kiss lasted, the only thing she could think of was that she never wanted him to stop.

A few hours later Aria, damped from the rain and with a wide smile on her face, walked into her house to find her dad sitting alone on the couch and reading a book, glasses perched on his nose. Her good mood instantly soared. Byron looked up from his book and immediately said "We need to talk". Aria freeze in her place and panicked for a second. Did her dad saw her kiss Damon?

"What you're doing isn't right" Aria looked at him and wondered how much he knew.

"You're not very good at hiding your feelings. Your mother knows something's wrong" Aria breathed easily at that, knowing that he wasn't talking about Damon at all but about him and Aria. Relieved, Aria took off her jacket and walked into the room. She sat across from him and waited for him to speak.

"Look, Aria. I don't like to lie, but sometimes telling the truth does more harm than good. When we were in Europe, you found a way to let go of what happened".

"Are you seeing her again?" Aria couldn't help but ask even if she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

"She teaches at Hollis, so I do see her. But not like that" Aria nodded at that, wanting to believe him.

"Were you in love with her?" She asked then, trying to understand.

Byron stayed silent for a second before sighing and explaining "I had very strong feelings for Meredith, but my attraction to her was as much of a surprise to me as it was to her. I had no intention of being unfaithful to your mother, and you're probably too young to understand this - but the truth is - I gave into my emotions".

Aria absorbed his words and nodded. She knew perfectly well what she meant and she could relate, though she didn't agree and it certainly didn't justify what he had done.

The moment was interrupted by Mike and Ella making their way in the house, bags of takeout food in their hands.

"Mr. Chung was very happy to see us" Ella said with a smile, completely oblivious to the heavy conversation that had just taken place between Aria and her father.

"By the look of all that food, I'm sure he was" Byron replied with a smile.

Mike started setting out the food while Ella turned to her "We got you Kung Pao".

"Are you going out?" Byron asked her then.

Aria thought about it for a second before shaking her head "No, I'll stay home".

"I like the sound of that" Ella said while Aria and Byron exchanged an understanding look. Maybe they were making progress after all.

"I'm getting out of these wet clothes" Aria said while her family began to eat. She got up from the sofa and walked towards the staircase. She stopped on the first step to look back at her family and Aria almost felt like they were back to being the happy family that they had been once upon a time.

She smiled but her smile freeze on her face when she heard her phone ringing. With a heavy heart she looked down at the text:  _"When students kiss teachers, someone gets HURT. That's a promise I'll keep." -_ **A** _._ She read the words with a terror that she was sure was reflected on her face. She couldn't escape the reality of 'A', no matter how much she wanted to.

 _"We have no past we won't reach back,_  
Keep with me forward all through the night  
and once we start a meter clicks,  
and it goes running all through the night.  
Until it ends, there is no end 

_Keep with me forward, all through the night."_


End file.
